Wasn’t there something in the movie about some people needing a labotomy if the procedure fried their brain? I actually thought, like you, that Arnold dreamed the whole thing, but unlike you, I thought it messed up his brain and he would essentially stay on Mars forever (in his mind, of course) while his actual body was a vegetable. I haven’t seen the movie in years and years, so I might be way off base. But nothing made me think he was going back to Sharon Stone and everything would be hunky dory.
Huh. Up to now I’d figured Total Recall for the quintessential braindead action flick, riddled with plot holes and whatnot. If it’s all a dream, though… well, that doesn’t allow it to rise to the level of a good movie, but it becomes a tad more tolerable.
I’d suggest the few scenes that indicate it is not a dream are those where Quaid is not present:
the mutants have nearly suffocated, then start to revive as Mars’ new atmosphere reaches them
Cohagen gets blown out the airlock and we see a close-up of his vacuum-exploding face, even though he’s some distance away from Quaid.
But I guess even dreams can occasionally and briefly shift from first-person to third-person perspective.
I figured that Kirk was spun up on adreline. He just watched Cpt. Terrel vaporize a lab technician, and then vaporize himself. Kirk is getting tired of people getting killed, even if indirectly, by Khan.
Remember, he thought he was outwitting Khan at this point, and he did not realise that Khan still controlled Chekov and Terrel via the eels. But Kirk made a mistake (by assuming that Chekov & Terrel were free of the control), and people died for it.
Do you find bearded ladies exciting? Have you ever been smitten by the sight of a bearded lady? NO!
But that’s what Gimli is supposed to be used to. A beardless lady (assuming he was used to the furry kind) would have seemed grotesque. But since he’s smitten with the baby smooth face, we can assume that that is what he is used to.
Speaking as someone who doesn’t care much for PKD’s writing, I agree with you. Scott’s film is much more thought-provoking, and disturbing, than the original story. Far superior.
There is no possible explanation for one of about seven computer simulated females that fit his criteria being the exact same woman that used to be his real-life secret agent resistance girlfriend. If they were shooting for amgibuity, they should have used a similar-looking woman for 21A, not a photo of Rachel Ticotin.
But she seems hot to some guys who only hang out with two-breasted women. And so, too, could a female with no beard seem hot to at least some guys who, for the sake of argument, only hang out with bearded females.
You missed some dialogue, his resistance girlfriend is a MODEL who moonlights as a rebel. And rumors had been swirling in the media about alien artifacts found on Mars, this captured the popular imagination and its no shock Recall would introduce a scenario involving it.
So her modeling work headshot was purchased by Recall, therefore it’s just a one-in-seven chance that the simulation chose that image, and their real history together is yet another coincidence.
The scenario being the computer scrolled through several different alien photos that had nothing to do with what was really found, and landed on one that happened to look exactly like an oxygen making machine that would make the skies blue, which happened to be exactly what was really found.
I can’t believe I am going to say this but…it is a movie.
Yes it would be an outrageous coincidence in real life, but its good enough to cast doubt on any interpretation(which was the director’s intention).
EDIT:Remember someone who had actually seen the find on Mars was blabbing, so depending on how specific they were sure a artist rendition could capture the feel of the site.
